Sunday, February 01, 2009

Project 310 - Lover's Walk

Whereas the previous episode, “Revelations”, was better than I’d remembered, this one was actually worse. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just wasn’t among the greats, which is how I remembered it.

There are a couple things going on here, but the main thing is that Spike returns to Sunnydale, looking to use magic to get back at Drusilla for dumping her. However, he spots Willow and changes his mind, deciding to force Willow to cast a love spell.

Eventually he gets picked up by Buffy and Angel while Willow and Xander are trapped in the factory.

There is one theme to this episode -- that you can’t deny love -- and we see it play out between three couples. Spike is still pining for Dru, despite her infidelities. Angel and Buffy are trying to be friends, but everyone sees through that charade, including Spike. And Willow and Xander can’t keep their hands off each other, despite the fact they know it’s wrong.

The thing is, on most shows, something like this would play out as forced, but it really works here. It’s just that it takes so long to get to the development of all those couplings that you end up being bored.

Also, this was Spike’s only appearance in Season 3, and it was kind of lame. Until the big fight scene at the end, he was mostly playing a depressed, drunken, jilted lover, and I didn’t like him like that (which might be why I don’t like a lot of Season 6 either). I like ass-kicking Spike. I like sarcastic, asshole Spike. We got some of that, but not enough to make this episode a great one.

Oh, and Joyce finally saw that Angel was back, and somehow, it was played for comedy. I hope that at some point they actually have a serious conversation about the whole “Angel is back” thing (of course, maybe they do and it happens off-screen... lame).

Favorite Quote:

Spike (about Buffy and Angel): “You’re not friends. You’ll never be friends. You’ll be in love til it kills you both. You’ll fight, and you’ll shag and you’ll hate each other til it makes you quiver, but you’ll never be friends.”